[News] Venezuela's Chavez demanding independence for Puerto Rico

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Venezuela's Chavez demanding independence for Puerto Rico

By Christopher Toothaker, Associated Press Writer  |  March 5, 2006

CARACAS, Venezuela --President Hugo Chavez 
accused the United States of attempting to foment 
the secession of an oil-rich region in western 
Venezuela on Sunday and demanded independence for 
the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.

Chavez said U.S. officials were working behind 
the scenes with the governor of Zulia state, 
which is home to much of Venezuela's 
all-important oil industry, to create a secession 
movement loyal to U.S. interests.

"The imperialists are there trying to give 
strength ... trying to give form to a 
secessionist movement, of course, to take control 
of the great oil wealth there," said Chavez, 
speaking during his weekly television and radio program "Hello President."

Zulia state is governed by Manuel Rosales, an 
outspoken opponent of left-leaning Chavez. 
Rosales has rejected past accusations of his 
alleged involvement in conspiracies involving Zulia's secession.

Chavez urged employees at Venezuela's state-run 
oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, 
to join the nation's military reserve to help 
prepare for a possible attempt by foreign troops 
to seize oil refineries, then asked Oil Minister 
Rafael Ramirez how many people work at PDVSA.

"We have 34,000 workers," Ramirez said.

"That's three (military) divisions," replied 
Chavez, a former army lieutenant colonel. "Every 
PDVSA worker should become a reservist."

Chavez, who accuses U.S. President George W. Bush 
of backing efforts to topple his government, also 
condemned the killing of Puerto Rican nationalist 
Filiberto Ojeda and encouraged residents of 
Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory of 4 million people, to fight for independence.

"While (U.S.) imperialism wants to divide 
Venezuela in parts, we are raising the flag of 
independence for our beloved Puerto Rico," Chavez 
said. "The time has come for Puerto Rico to be 
independent. How long are we going to have a colony there in Puerto Rico?"

Puerto Rico has been a commonwealth since 1952. 
Puerto Ricans voted to keep that status by 
rejecting statehood in nonbinding referendums in 1967, 1993 and 1998.

Most Puerto Ricans favor the island's current status.

Chavez condemned the September killing of Ojeda, 
who was shot by FBI agents during a raid to 
arrest him for the 1983 robbery of $7.2 million 
in West Hartford, Conn. Ojeda used the robbery to 
help fund his independence activities.

"The FBI assassinated him. They entered a house, 
shooting, where he was and he was wounded, but he 
could have been saved," said Chavez.

The FBI has said that its agents did not enter 
the house until almost 24 hours after the 
shooting because of fears that Ojeda had rigged 
it with explosives, and had awaited the arrival 
of an investigative team from Virginia. An 
autopsy has shown that Ojeda, who was shot once 
in the shoulder, might have survived if he had received immediate medical care.

Ojeda's death has been widely condemned in Puerto 
Rico, where some viewed him as an independence movement hero.
[]

© 
<http://www.boston.com/help/bostoncom_info/copyright>Copyright 
2005 The New York Times Company


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